Progressive third-party candidates outraised Republicans in Philly City Council race

Two progressive members of the Working Families Party running for Philadelphia City Council outraised their Republican opponents and appear to have set a fundraising record for third-party candidates in the city.

Still, the Republican candidates held their own in the money battle, and both GOP contenders raised more money than any of the five members of their party who ran for the same seats four years ago.

And both sides are backed by deep-pocketed groups that have already poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the closelywatched race.

That’s according to campaign-finance reports filed this week by the four candidates who are seeking two Council seats effectively reserved for non-Democrats. Republicans and the Working Families Party are locked in a tight battle for the seats ahead of the Nov. 7 election, and the race is considered the most competitive in the city this fall.

With more than a million dollars raised by the four candidates combined and hundreds of thousands more flowing from outside groups, the final six weeks are likely to be a shootout as the candidates jockey for attention in what is often a sleepy election cycle in Philadelphia.

Voters can select up to five candidates running for seven at-large seats on Council. Democrats nominated five candidates, who are all but certain to win seats given the party’s large voter registration advantage in the city.

Incumbent Councilmember Kendra Brooks and her running mate, the Rev. Nicolas O’Rourke, have each outraised Republicans Jim Hasher, a small business owner, and Drew Murray, a civic association leader, since the primary election.

Brooks reported raising $193,000 in cash donations over the last three months and O’Rourke brought in $146,000, dwarfing the record-setting amount the two raised in 2019. Over the same period, Hasher raised about $117,000 and Murray reported raising $77,000 — $40,000 of which was self-funded.

The Working Families Party candidates also have more money in the bank and have raised more over the length of the election cycle. The two progressive candidates have more than $440,000 combined, while the pair of Republicans have about $236,000 put together.

Still, Republicans have plenty of money to compete. While the GOP nominated five candidates, three dropped out as part of the party’s strategy to consolidate its efforts behind Hasher and Murray.

Hasher’s fundraising was particularly notable because more than half of it — upwards of $60,000 — came from a dozen building trades unions that are supporting his bid.

Some of those labor groups, including the politically potent electricians unions, have traditionally aligned with Democrats. And many of the same unions that donated to Hasher are backing Democrat Cherelle Parker for mayor.

Ryan Boyer, head of the Philadelphia Building Trades & Construction Council, said the coalition of labor unions has endorsed Hasher alongside four Democrats: Nina Ahmad and incumbents Isaiah Thomas, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, and Jim Harrity.

He said the trades “are not Republican or Democrat, but we’re ‘J for jobs.’”

“Anybody that supports smart development with workers that are skilled and highly trained, they have support from the Philadelphia building trades,” he said.

Eleven other labor unions outside the building trades, including those that represent teachers and service workers, have endorsed the Working Families Party candidates.

The Working Families Party may need to spend more money than its Republican rivals in order to reach enough voters to put them over the top. Their campaigns will likely need to convince many Democrats to forgo casting votes for one or two members of their party and pick Working Families candidates instead — and such a voter education effort isn’t cheap.

They do have one major advantage in the form of the national Working Families Party, which is based in New York and has already spent $400,000 boosting Brooks and O’Rourke, according to the group’s filing this week. Most of that money funded literature and a door-knocking program.

The Working Families Party independent expenditure group, also known as a super PAC, is not legally allowed to coordinate with the campaigns or candidates.

It wasn’t immediately clear who gave to the Working Families Party’s national group, though it has reportedly raised much of its cash from national labor unions.

The campaigns, on the other hand, raised most of their money from local donors.